Early childhood

education takes

local spotlight

Advocates meet to assess

community

mindset

By KREMENA TODOROVA

Journal Staff Writer

NEW ULM -- Representatives of the Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation (SMIF) met with New Ulm early childhood education professionals and activists Monday, to gauge the level of, and community support for, curriculum-based pre-school education.

The fact-finding mission was part of an effort that is ultimately intended to influence and change public policy in the state, said SMIF Workforce Development Director April Sutor.

SMIF is one of ten foundations statewide (described as "baby McKnights") that are trying to comprehensively assess the condition of early childhood education in Minnesota, she said. Similar efforts are under way in nine other states.

After its assessments, the SMIF intends to select communities to start pilot demonstration initiatives, to measure the difference that pre-schools make in children's lives. The findings will be reported to legislators.

Sutor stressed that educational activities are crucial for preparing young children to be effective students. But most early childhood programs and professionals who offer them are underfunded, underestimated and underpaid. The SMIF and other advocates are working toward changes that will make a positive difference. One focus is improving access to good programs for all young children, regardless of their parents' income.

The local pre-school educators and activists took turns describing the programs they offer. Among other things, they focused on curriculums, the population segments they cover, enrollment numbers, waiting lists, and special problems. In conclusion, the speakers summed up community-wide concerns.

One issue that emerged from the discussion was the shortage, locally, of programs for very young children. Care providers are reluctant to take on infants and toddlers, predictably preferring to work with older children.

Another problem highlighted was the limited number of round-the-clock care providers. With shift workers making up a disproportionate number of New Ulm's workforce, this issue takes on a special prominence.

The meeting, however, also outlined a number of positive trends. One is the wide range of educational opportunities. Despite New Ulm's relatively small size, day care providers and pre-schools cover the whole gamut, from home-based establishments with very little structure, through home-based schools with fairly rigorous curriculums, to fully-formal larger-school settings.

Another positive tendency is the level of community involvement. "It looks like this community is willing to make quite a few sacrifices (for pre-school education)," noted Sutor. For example, in spite of the grave financial implications, the school district funds an all-day, every-day kindergarten. Community volunteers have invested time and effort trying to address the provider shortage and other special local needs.

The meeting was sponsored by Parents in Partnership, a community group trying to expand pre-school opportunities in New Ulm by a building a large child care center.

The session, lengthy but informal, was open to all child care providers in Brown County. Attendees came from pre-schools run by District 88 and Martin Luther College, the Head Start Program and private day care centers. The professionals received age-appropriate books from the SMIF. The books were all donated by Coughlin Companies in Mankato, one of the country's largest publishers of easy-to-read non-fiction books for children.